Disc Brake Mounts & Adaptors
Getting the right mount for your disc brakes can be a bit of a mine field this guide will hopefully clear things up. Often a brake manufacturer will produce a single brake calliper for a brake system and they will then rely on getting the right adapter so that you can fit any of their disc sizes and the various mounting standards that have developed for frames and forks.
There are three aspects of fitting a disc brake to your bike that you need to know in order to get the right adaptor for it.
- Rotor Size, these normally are available in 160mm(possibly the standard size of rotor), 180mm, 203mm and 140mm (only used on rear wheels)
- Calliper mount type
- Fork / Frame mount type.
Fork Mount Types
This is an International Standard Fork, note the tabs indicated by the red arrows these will mostly be the same no matter who made your fork. Although some forks designed so that they fit a larger minimum rotor size, this only usually becomes an issue with Downhill/Freeride forks.
This is a Post Mount Fork, note the two posts indicated by the red arrows, most post-mount callipers will not need an adaptor if you are using a 160mm rotor.
Frame Mount Types
Most frames that have disc brake mounts will have a mount that looks like this, if it doesn’t have this then unfortunately you frame doesn’t take disc brakes. If it doesn’t look like this then you have a non-standard disc brake mount on your frame, please check with the manufacturer or give us a call before you order your brakes.
Calliper Mount Types
This is an International Standard Calliper, note the red tabs indicated by the red arrows these will always be the same no matter who made your brakes.
This is a Post Mount Calliper, the red arrows show the actual mount points.